For a couple of weekends now, I’ve been happily waking up to a lightly bright room. The sun shyly peeks through my curtains and I can’t help but start my days smiling!

Stepping on my balcony still in slippers, I love inhaling the smell of freshly cut grass and flowers showing their crazy beautifulness in my backyard tree.

Spring brings newborn sunshine, late afternoon thunderstorms and starry nights out, or to put it simply, a lot of things that I adore. With its arrival, I store my obsession for soups and stews far away in my freezer and bring out my creative salad-making skills! While you can read my last summer’s salad inventions here, here and here, get ready for a whole new delicious one below!

The Spring Veggies Salad Bowl

Serves 3

Ingredients for the salad

1/2 cup of barley

A handful of baby tomatoes

3 peeled carrots

Your favourite salad: roquette, baby spinach…

1 cinnamon and paprika sweet potato (baked)

1/3 cup of sunflower seeds

1/2 cup of raisins

1/2 avocado

Ingredients for the dressing

The juice of a lime

2 tablespoons of tamari

3 tablespoons of olive oil

Pepper to taste

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 400F.

Wash the sweet potato and cut it into chunks. Place your sweet potato chunks onto a baking tray and cover with olive oil, 1 tablespoon of paprika and 1 tablespoon of cinnamon. Mix it all together. When your oven is ready, bake for about forty minutes, and make sure to turn them over halfway through so that they are evenly cooked.

While the sweet potatoes are on the go, bring 1 1/4 cup of water to a boil. Once it is boiling, pour the barley into the water and simmer for 40 minutes.

Once your potatoes and barley are cooked, let them cool for a little while before mixing with the rest of the ingredients.

Peel your carrots into long slices, chop your tomatoes and avocados. Mix all salad ingredients together, then add your cooled potatoes and barley and generously cover with the salad dressing.

A few weeks ago, we decided to have a Saturday Sushi Night! We were four and it took us three hours to prepare our feast, but it was definitely worth it. Here are some tips to help you throw a sushi party with friends!

Step 1. Rinse the rice in a strainer or colander until the water runs clear. Then, let the rice sit for 30 minutes.

Step 2. Place the rice in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil on medium heat. Don’t lift the cover and let the rice boil for 3 to 5 minutes.

Step 3. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 8 to 10 minutes.

Step 4. In a separate saucepan, mix Vinegar, Salt and Sugar and cook until the Sugar has melted.

Step 5. Place the rice flatly in a sushi oke adding some of the Vinegar-Salt-Sugar mixture every time you add rice. Be sure that the rice is shiny and that it has cooled to room temperature.

Once we finished preparing the rice, we made a couple of homemade mixes with Avocado, Mango, Cream Cheese, Fresh Tuna, Fresh Salmon, Green Onions, Carrots, Green Apples, and Cucumbers. One of our finest mixes was the Salmon Tartare roll which we created by mixing Green Apples, Fresh Salmon, Spicy Mayo (Siracha Sauce & Mayo), Lemon Juice and Tempura!

Tuna and Salmon Tartare Hosomaki

We were a little lazy and didn’t look for too many recipes, but we have this favorite from Sushi Taxi a restaurant chain. These hosomakis are called Winnies and are served fried with honey. You’ll need a deep fryer or a pan with oil to make them. The link to the original recipe, in French, is here.

Step 2. Add some rice to the nori sheet and leave 1.5 inch without any rice at the top of the sheet.

Step 3. Turn the nori around, the rice will be on the mat and the nori sheet will be facing you. Make sure the part where you didn’t put any rice is at the bottom of the mat.

Step 4. Make a row in the middle of the nori sheet with the ingredients: salmon, green apples, mangos and cream cheese. Contrary to a regular roll, you are not placing the ingredients on the rice.

Step 5. Roll it tightly, the rice side will be at the top.

Step 6. Cover the roll of a small coat of tempura batter (use a regular tempura mix). Once the roll is wet with tempura batter, roll it in a 50\50 mix of panko and coconut (at least 1/4 cup of each if you are making two Winnie rolls).

Step 7. Heat up your fryer to 400 degrees F and fry the rool for 1 to 2 minutes or until the coconut/panko mix is golden. Fry it in a pan in which you’ve heated up some oil if you don’t have a fryer (BE CAREFUL), hot oil is horribly dangerous.

Step 8. Add a coat of melted Honey on the roll before you serve it.

Final words

Be sure to make at least 8 rolls to serve 4 people, you might get away with less if you don’t have big appetites but 8 is a safe bet. If you can, serve your sushi in some white plates and add some soy sauce, ginger and wasabi! Voilà a tasteful treat that’s fun to make.

I love waking up in the darkness every morning and watching the sun rise as I prepare my warm water with lemon. I love going out in the crisp fresh air and breathing in the new day while walking to the metro station. And after a good day of work, I love coming home and cooking something warm and homy. It allows me to unwind and disconnect from my day.

Recently, I’ve been pretty busy and I feel like I rush more, and I’m having a harder time completely disconnecting from everything I have to do to truly enjoy cooking and eating.

Yesterday, I went for a swim after work and while walking home under the heavy rain, feeling amazingly good (because that’s how swimming will make you feel!), I weirdly just wanted to eat warm, comforting oatmeal. So I cooked this super simple oatmeal recipe in 15 minutes and accompanied it with a green bean salad. Then, I sat down to eat while pinning inspirational fall photos and reading the latest news online and felt peaceful and super happy.

Here is my version of happiness in a bowl for 1 (make the quantities vary according to your hunger level):

1/3 cup Oatmeal

2/3 cup Water

Frozen blueberries

Maple Syrup

Walnuts

Bring water to a boil and add the oatmeal, reduce the heat and cook for 10-15 minutes (follow the cooking instructions on your oatmeal box).

When you’re done, add as many blueberries, chopped walnuts and maple syrup as it makes you happy!

On the side, I prepared this simple salad. Just mix all ingredients together:

Kale

Black beans

Chopped cucumbers

Maple Syrup

Olive Oil

Black Pepper

It was my perfect fall dinner, if you can call that a dinner. Who decided what a dinner needed to look like anyways, right? Always eat what you’re body tells you will make you feel happy!

Here is the recipe for a quick and easy Cream of Green soup! I invented this recipe the other day and was quite impressed with the results. It’s a great way to use your Broccoli stalks, which is exactly what I was looking for!

Cream of Green Soup

EASY CREAM OF GREEN

Serves 2. About 30 minutes.

You’ll need :

– 1 teaspoon Olive Oil

– 1 small Onion

– 1 Potato

– 2 cups fresh Spinach

– 1 Broccoli Stalk

– 1 cup Kale leafs

– 2 cups Chicken Broth

– Some fresh Parmesan

– 3/4 cup 15 % Cooking Cream

DIRECTIONS

Cut up your onion, potato and broccoli stalk.

Use a medium saucepan to sauté the broccoli stalk, potato and onion in the olive oil to soften them up little.

Add the chicken broth and let simmer 15 minutes.

Add the kale and spinach and let simmer 2 minutes.

Use a hand blender to blend the ingredients.

Add the cream and let simmer 2 more minutes.

Top the soup with some fresh Parmesan and freshly grounded Pepper.

I hope you’ll enjoy this comforting soup, it’s really perfect for lunch at home or at work!

While Gabrielle is usually the salad expert, here is one of my favourite express recipes to add some greens to my meal!

If any of your relatives are into canning, chances are you’ve received some marinated beets as a gift. It’s sometimes difficult to know what to do with these beets and how to serve them in the Summer. Here is the recipe to an easy salad filled with fresh herbs from the garden! This recipe isn’t a meal in itself as it lacks protein, you could add some Pork Tenderloin if you wanted to make it a dinner recipe.

Express Beet Salad

Yields 2 servings

You’ll need:

5 Marinated Beets

1 small Iceberg Lettuce

1/2 cup Fresh Herbs

2 tbsp Olive Oil

2 Green Onions

1 tsp White Balsamic Vinegar

1/2 Lemon

Cut the onions and fresh herbs and place them in the salad bowl. I used the herbs I have on my balcony : Parsley, Basil and Sage.

Cut the beets into slices and add to the mix.

Cut the lettuce into thin layers and add to the bowl.

Mix the Olive Oil, White Balsamic Vinegar and Lemon Juice from your lemon together. Poor onto the salad and top off with salt & pepper.

Are there any ingredients you’d like to have a little inspiration using? Let us know in the comments!

The last long weekend of the Summer is now a thing of the past and reality is quickly setting in. With the stressful weeks ahead, whether at work or school, one thing is certain : breakfast needs to be filling and yummy so you can start your days in high spirits!

Summer is going by so fast! Nevertheless, we must enjoy every single lasting bit of it before it ends. Make an end-of-summer bucket list! Whether you want to attend a yoga class in the park, go away to a lakeside cottage for the weekend or read the book that’s been sleeping on your nightstand, write it down and do it!

I wanted to share with you my last simple summery salad before the season ends. This one is creamier than the other two salads (discover them here if you haven’t already) because of the yummy mix of Israeli couscous, French lentils and Dijon mustard. So it will satisfy your taste buds during the cozy-homy fall season as well.

Creamy Cherry Tomatoes and Zucchini Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette

Serves 3

Ingredients:

– 1 cup of French lentils

– 1/2 cup of Israeli couscous

– 551 ml of cherry tomatoes

– 2 zucchinis

– Pumpkin seeds

– Sunflower seeds

– 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

– Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

Put the French lentils in 3 cups of water, bring to a boil and let simmer for about 20 minutes.

While the lentils are boiling, start cooking the Israeli couscous. Bring 1 cup of water to a boil and then add the Israeli couscous. Bring back to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.

While you wait, chop the zucchinis. Then sauté them for 5 to 10 minutes in a skillet with a bit of oil, salt, and pepper.

Chop the cherry tomatoes in half.

When everything is ready, mix the French lentils, Israeli couscous, zucchinis and tomatoes with the pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds. Add your dijon mustard.

Enjoy the yumminess of this salad, and most of all…enjoy the end of you summer!

I chose to write this post after watching the Hungry for ChangeDocumentary. It’s really inspiring and eye-opening, watch it on Netflix!

It’s no secret, I love everything healthy and believe that eating whole, organic foods will benefit not only your body but also your soul and how you feel about yourself.

Often, when I say I eat a smoothie, an egg and greek yoghurt with chia seeds for breakfast every morning people’s eye grow wide, they look surprised and say to me “Oh, you’re that kind of girl…you’re so healthy! I could never eat like you do.”

This answer always makes me sad. It’s been hard for me in these past years to understand why eating healthy isn’t more common if it fits your budget. After all, eating the right nutrients will make your skin glow beautifully, your hair shiny, your nails strong…so why not go for it?

Most of the time, the answer is we’re used to eating the less healthy way, and we can’t help but love it. A few years ago, I was in the same situation: addicted to a lot of extra-sugary pre-made foods like sugar-packed cereals, chocolate-chip cookies… The adjustments I decided to make to my routine were hard to apply because my body craved these foods all the time!

The addiction to these foods is made possible by the companies who make these products. They fill them with ingredients we can’t really pronounce they’ll know will make our bodies crave them and ultimately make us the consumer addicted to these foods … so we decide to buy more of them. Furthermore, these products are often filled with calories but don’t have the nutrients that your body and mind need to function at their best – they’re filled with empty calories!

After seeing the effects eating the bad stuff had on my body, I decided to eat healthier progressively! Habits don’t change overnight, but the more I read on the subject and tried to apply change, the more my cravings changed as I changed my diet and the more I was convinced to stay on this healthy path. After all:

…And I want to be a colorful mix of healthy foods, not an artificial bundle of things I don’t understand!! Don’t you?

Back to the reason I decided to write this in the first place. The Hungry for Change documentary really explains why we should eat healthy!

Here are some of the facts that really stood out to me watching it:

1 – You won’t burn much fat when you start exercising if you haven’t done a detox beforehand. You’ve heard of detox smoothies and juices right?

Why?

Your body surrounds toxins with fat so that they can’t cause damage. Therefore, your body wants to keep the fat to protect you. The best way to lose this fat is to create the condition for the body to cleanse and make the toxins stored in fat water soluble so they can be sweated off.

The first step towards a healthy body is detoxifying. You can do so by eating:

– Green vegetables

– Gelatinous plant foods (chia seeds, aloe vera, sea weeds): they absorb the toxins, bind those and past those out with it. They also help clean out the liver.

The simplest way to detox is by juicing. Juicing makes the food easy to absorb and will make you consume far more vegetables at a time. Plus, homemade juices are delicious! Here are 3 recipes of juices to get you started from The Awesome Green Blog.

The bottom line is you should continually eat in a way that makes your feel amazing and beautiful, not temporarily so. You’re on a lifelong journey of eating good food :) So get cooking! Know what’s in your food!

And don’t forget to watch this superb documentary to learn more and feel extra convinced!